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Sunday, January 15, 2012

Wicked Anime Reviews #22 The Legend of the Legendary Heroes

Anime reviews delivered directly to the face!

What's it about?Ryner Lute is a talented mage for the kingdom of Roland who also happens to be the laziest person imaginable with the highest hopes for humanity. He's on a journey to find magic items across the land in the hopes of making his plan a reality. Ferris Eris is a talented warrior and assassin who prefers eating dango to just about anything. She's forced to accompany Ryner to keep him motivated even if that means beating the crap out of him. Sion Astal is the beloved King of Roland who wants to ensure Ryner's plans for humanity but finds himself troubled with his duties as King and the pain he wants to help prevent Ryner from facing. This is the story of these three and the surrounding Kingdoms at war with one another.

What rocks:- Sword and SorceryIt's rare these days to get a unique yet familiar D&D-esque fantasy/adventure Anime so this was rather refreshing. Plenty of Anime have the sword plus magic combo but not in the same realm as shows like Slayers, Scrapped Princess, or this.

- Anti-epicSo a dragon has just been summoned to run rampant in the forest? Well, the heroes should do the only reasonable thing a hero is expected to do right? Run away!

- Great castThere's a very colorful and large cast that are actually very well developed (though that takes time). Unlike most Anime where side characters are very one-note or based around a gimmick, there isn't much if any of that going on regardless of the size of the cast. They're introduced slowly with proper pacing and never feel shoehorned into an episode as every character has very clear goals and motivations (though those are sometimes hidden until later for good reason). It's also nice to see another Anime demonstrate that war is grey as there doesn't seem to be any clear villains at work even if some characters can seem a bit malicious (war does that to people).

- ComedyWith how dark the show can get when contemplating morality and ideologies of what the world should be like, it's great that two of the three main characters themselves are the primary comedy relief of the series.

What sucks:- UnfinishedThere are some rather curious sub-plots and even main plots going on that either never get introduced until the end of the series or never get running until the end. It's rather obvious that this show has a lot more to tell but I'm not positive it will get that chance as the Anime didn't seem to be all of that popular even if the light novels are rather successful.

- A large castWhile I hit the highlights of the large cast earlier, it's also important to point out the pitfalls. There's almost no way possible to please everyone with such a large number of characters and by that I mean there are going to be characters you probably despise. Their appeal is going to be subjective and sometimes it's going to take a bit of understanding as to why a character might be the way they are as this show proves there is always a reason behind it.

- Slow setupIt takes time for the series to show its hand and the real direction it intends to go. There are some major hints early on but it doesn't hit full swing until later. Then it has to jump perspectives to another faction in the war and then it has to introduce a new plot twist that will interrupt what they were right in the middle of. Given, it feels more realistic this way as unexpected things do happen but it feels like the characters aren't able to get to their goal and that can lead to the show feeling like there is no rush to get anything done. There will be some who can't stomach this kind of pacing.

This is Kylak signing out and reminding you to get your adventuring gear and magic items ready before journeying into this Anime.